Methods of forming transistor gates; and methods of forming programmable read-only memory constructions

ABSTRACT

The invention includes a method of forming a transistor gate. One or more conductive materials are formed over a semiconductor substrate, and a block is formed over the one or more conductive materials. The block comprises a photoresist mass and a material other than photoresist which is against the photoresist. A pattern is transferred from the block to the one or more conductive materials to pattern a transistor gate construction from the one or more conductive materials.

RELATED PATENT DATA

This patent resulted from a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 10/635,715, which was filed Aug. 5, 2003; which resulted from acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/876,722, which wasfiled Jun. 6, 2001, and is now U.S. Pat. No. 6,627,524.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention pertains to methods of forming transistor gates; and inparticular aspects pertains to methods of forming programmable read-onlymemory constructions, such as, for example, FLASH memory constructions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Transistor devices are utilized in numerous semiconductor constructions,including, for example, memory constructions. A transistor device willtypically comprise a transistor gate adjacent a semiconductive material,and defining a channel region within the semiconductor material. Thetransistor device will also typically comprise a pair of source/drainregions separated from one another by the channel region.

A specialized type of transistor gate is a so-called floating gate. Theterm “floating” transistor gate is used to indicate that no electricalconnection exists to the gate. The floating gate is charged by injectinghot electrons into the gate, and once the electrons are transferred tothe gate they become trapped there.

Floating gates can be incorporated into programmable read-only memory(PROM) constructions, such as erasable PROMs (EPROMS), and electricallyerasable PROMs (EEPROMS). Further, the PROMs can be incorporated intoFLASH devices, such as, for example, FLASH EEPROMS. A FLASH device is sonamed because the contents of all of the memory's array cells can beerased simultaneously and rapidly through utilization of an electricalerase signal.

Memory arrays can be fabricated utilizing numerous transistor gates incombination with various capacitor or other circuitry constructions.Frequently, it is desired to fabricate adjacent transistor gates of thememory array close to one another to conserve semiconductor real estate.One method of fabricating transistor gates is to utilizephotolithographic processing to form patterned photoresist blocks overtransistor gate material. Subsequently, a pattern is transferred fromthe blocks to the underlying transistor gate material to form transistorgate structures. A minimal spacing between adjacent patternedphotoresist blocks is limited by various parameters involved in aphotolithographic process. For instance, the wavelength of lightutilized in photolithographic processing can limit a minimum spacingbetween adjacent patterned features due to interference effects whichcan occur if a minimal spacing between adjacent features is notmaintained.

It would be desirable to develop methodology by which a spacing betweenadjacent transistor gates can be reduced to less than a minimum featuresize achievable by photolithographic processing. It is recognized thatthe minimum feature size achievable by photolithographic processing iscontinually decreasing due to advances made in semiconductor processingmethodologies. However, at any time there is a minimum feature sizeassociated with any particular photolithographic process. It would bedesirable to develop a method which can reduce the minimum feature sizebeyond that achieved by a particular photolithographic process at thetime that the process is utilized for fabrication of semiconductorcircuitry.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the invention encompasses a method of forming atransistor gate. One or more conductive materials are formed over asemiconductor substrate, and a block is formed over the one or moreconductive materials. The block comprises a photoresist mass and amaterial other than photoresist which is against the photoresist. Apattern is transferred from the block to the one or more conductivematerials to pattern a transistor gate construction from the one or moreconductive materials.

In another aspect, the invention encompasses a method of forming atleast two programmable read-only memory constructions. At least oneconductive material is formed over a semiconductor substrate. At leasttwo patterned photoresist blocks are formed over the conductivematerial, with a pair of adjacent photoresist blocks being separated bya first gap. A coating is formed over the pair of adjacent photoresistblocks and across the first gap between the adjacent blocks. The coatingis selectively removed from across the first gap while leaving thecoating on the pair of adjacent photoresist blocks. The pair ofphotoresist blocks and coating remaining on the pair of photoresistblocks together define a pair of masking blocks that are separated by asecond gap. The second gap is narrower than the first gap. A pattern istransferred from the masking blocks to the conductive material topattern a pair of spaced floating gate constructions from the conductivematerial. A dielectric material is formed over the spaced floating gateconstructions, and a control gate material is formed over the dielectricmaterial.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred embodiments of the invention are described below withreference to the following accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic, cross-sectional view of a semiconductor waferfragment shown at a preliminary processing step of a method of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a view of the FIG. 1 wafer fragment shown at a processing stepsubsequent to that of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a view of the FIG. 1 wafer fragment shown at a processing stepsubsequent to that of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a view of the FIG. 1 wafer fragment shown at a processing stepsubsequent to that of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a view of the FIG. 1 wafer fragment shown at a processing stepsubsequent to that of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a view of the FIG. 1 wafer fragment shown at a processing stepsubsequent to that of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a view of the FIG. 1 wafer fragment shown at a processing stepsubsequent to that of FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

This disclosure of the invention is submitted in furtherance of theconstitutional purposes of the U.S. Patent Laws “to promote the progressof science and useful arts” (Article 1, Section 8).

A method of the present invention is described with reference to FIGS.1-7. Referring initially to FIG. 1, a fragment 10 of a semiconductorconstruction is illustrated. Fragment 10 comprises a substrate 12.Substrate 12 can be, for example, a monocrystalline silicon waferlightly doped with a background p-type dopant. To aid in interpretationof the claims that follow, the terms “semiconductive substrate” and“semiconductor substrate” are defined to mean any constructioncomprising semiconductive material, including, but not limited to, bulksemiconductive materials such as a semiconductive wafer (either alone orin assemblies comprising other materials thereon), and semiconductivematerial layers (either alone or in assemblies comprising othermaterials). The term “substrate” refers to any supporting structure,including, but not limited to, the semiconductive substrates describedabove.

An insulative material 14 is provided over substrate 12. Material 14 cancomprise, for example, silicon dioxide, and can be ultimately utilizedas a gate oxide.

A conductive mass 15 is provided over layer 14. Conductive mass 15comprises at least one conductive material. In particular embodiments,mass 15 can comprise silicon (such as, for example, polycrystallinesilicon) conductively doped with suitable n-type and/or p-type dopant.Mass 15 can comprise metals in addition to, or alternatively to, theconductively-doped silicon. In particular embodiments, mass 15 cancomprise a layer of conductively-doped silicon, and a layer of metalsilicide (such as, for example, tungsten silicide or titanium silicide)on the conductively-doped silicon. Additionally, mass 15 can comprise alayer of metal (such as, for example, tungsten or titanium) on the metalsilicide.

A photoresist 16 is provided over conductive mass 15. Photoresist 16 cancomprise either positive or negative photoresist, and in particularembodiments can comprise M108Y™ from JSR™ Corporation of Japan.

Referring to FIG. 2, photoresist 16 is photolithographically patternedinto a pair of adjacent and spaced blocks 18 and 20. Block 18 hassidewall edges 19 and a top edge 21; and block 20 has sidewall edges 23and a top edge 25. Sidewall edges 19 and 23 can alternatively bereferred to as lateral edges. It is to be understood that the term“block” is utilized herein to generically refer to any patterned shape,including, for example, rectangular shapes, square shapes, or shapeswith curved edges.

In the shown embodiment, blocks 18 and 20 are formed in physical contactwith conductive material 15. It is to be understood that the inventionencompasses other embodiments (not shown) wherein blocks 18 and 20 canbe separated from conductive mass 15 by one or more interveningmaterials, such as, for example, an intervening dielectric material.

A gap 22 extends between patterned blocks 18 and 20, and in the shownembodiment an upper surface 17 of conductive mass 15 is exposed withingap 22. Patterned blocks 18 and 20 can be considered to cover a firstportion of conductive mass 15, and to leave a second portion of mass 15uncovered.

Referring to FIG. 3, a coating 24 is formed over patterned photoresistblocks 18 and 20, and within gap 22. Coating 24 covers at least some ofthe portion of conductive mass 15 that is exposed between blocks 18 and20, and in the shown embodiment covers all of the exposed portion ofconductive mass 15. Coating 24 is a material other than photoresist, andin particular applications corresponds to a material designated as AZR200™ by Clariant International, Ltd. Coating 24 is physically againstphotoresist blocks 18 and 20, and corresponds to a material which can beselectively removed from over exposed portion 17 of conductive mass 15,while remaining adhered to the photoresist of blocks 18 and 20. It isnoted that although coating 24 is illustrated as an electricallyinsulative material in the figures (i.e., is not cross-hatched), it isto be understood that the invention encompasses embodiments whereincoating 24 is electrically conductive, as well as encompassingembodiments in which coating 24 is insulative.

In one aspect of the invention, coating 24 corresponds to the materialdesignated as AZ R200™, and is coated across an entirety of asemiconductor wafer, and subsequently spun dry. It is noted that AZR200™ is a water-based material, so it is preferable to conduct theprocedures associated with AZ R200™ in a separate chamber from theprocedures utilized in exposing and developing photoresist, since watercan interfere with standard photoresist processing. Accordingly, apreferred process of the present invention comprises forming photoresistmass 16 and photolithographically processing such mass in a separate“bowl” or chamber from that utilized during formation of coating 24.

After coating 24 is formed, semiconductor construction 10 is baked at atemperature of from about 100° C. to about 120° C. Such baking isthought to diffuse acid from resist 16 into the AZ R200™, and crosslinkthe layer of AZ R200™ across resist blocks 18 and 20. The crosslinkingcan bond the coating to blocks 18 and 20 and/or form the coating into ashell tightly adhered with blocks 18 and 20. The material designated asAZ R200™ is but one material which can be utilized in methodology of thepresent invention. Other materials which selectively bond or adhere tophotoresist blocks 18 and 20 can be used alternatively to the materialdesignated as AZ R200™.

Referring to FIG. 4, coating 24 is exposed to conditions whichselectively remove the coating from between blocks 18 and 20, whileleaving a layer of the coating against blocks 18 and 20. In applicationsin which the coating comprises AZ R200™, such removal can beaccomplished by exposing semiconductor construction 10 to an aqueoussolution comprising surfactant. Such solution can selectively remove anon-crosslinked portion of the coating 24. A suitable aqueous surfactantsolution is the material marketed as “SOLUTION C™” by ClariantInternational, Ltd. In applications in which AZ R200™ is utilized,construction 10 can be subjected to a so-called hard bake at atemperature of from about 130° C. to about 140° C. after removal of thenon-crosslinked material. Such hard bake can fully dry and furthercrosslink the portions of coating 24 remaining around blocks 18 and 20.

The coating 24 remaining around a photoresist block can be considered todefine a second block which extends laterally outward beyond edges ofthe photoresist block. Specifically, the coating 24 over photoresistblock 18 defines lateral edges 27 which extend laterally outward beyondthe lateral edges 19 of block 18, and also defines a top edge 29 whichextends elevationally above the top edge 21 of block 18. Similarly, thecoating 24 around block 20 comprises lateral edges 31 which extendlaterally outward beyond the lateral edges 23 of block 20 and furthercomprises a top edge 33 which is elevationally above the top edge 25 ofblock 20.

Photoresist block 18 and the coating 24 surrounding such photoresistblock together define a masking block 40 which is laterally wider thanwas photoresist block 18. Also, photoresist block 20 and the coating 24surrounding such photoresist block together define a masking block 42which is laterally wider than photoresist block 20. Masking blocks 40and 42 have a narrower gap between them than did photoresist blocks 18and 20. In other words, coating 24 narrows gap 22 to reduce a dimensionof such gap.

Referring to FIG. 5, a pattern is transferred from masking blocks 40 and42 to the underlying conductive mass 15. In embodiments in which mass 15comprises conductively doped silicon, such can be accomplished by, forexample, a conventional polysilicon etch. In the shown embodiment, theetch has stopped at insulative layer 14. It is to be understood that theinvention encompasses other embodiments (not shown) wherein layer 14 ispatterned similarly to conductive mass 15.

Referring to FIG. 6, materials 16 and 24 (FIG. 5) are removed from overpatterned mass 15 to leave patterned blocks 50 and 52 of mass 15 oversubstrate 12. Blocks 50 and 52 are separated by a gap 54 correspondingto the narrowed gap defined by masking blocks 40 and 42 (FIG. 5). It isto be understood that conductive mass 15 would typically be fabricatedinto lines extending into and out of the page, with the shown blocks 50and 52 of FIG. 5 illustrating cross-sections through such lines.

Blocks 50 and 52 can subsequently be incorporated into transistorconstructions as transistor gates. For instance, FIG. 7 illustrates apair of programmable read-only memory constructions 60 and 62 comprisingconductive blocks 50 and 52, respectively. Constructions 60 and 62 cancomprise FLASH memory devices.

Blocks 50 and 52 have been incorporated as floating transistor gateswithin the constructions 60 and 62. More specifically, a dielectricmaterial 64 has been provided over blocks 50 and 52, and subsequently aconductive mass 66 is provided over dielectric material 64. Conductivemass 66 is shown comprising two conductive materials, with a lower ofthe two conductive materials being conductively doped silicon 68 and anupper of the two materials being silicide 70. Conductive mass 66 can beconsidered to define a pair of control gates which are provided overfloating gates 50 and 52 in the programmable read-only memoryconstructions 60 and 62. An insulative material 72 is shown formed overconductive mass 66.

Materials 64, 68, 70 and 72 can be formed by conventional methods.Dielectric material 64 can comprise, for example, silicon dioxide and/orsilicon nitride; and conductively doped silicon can comprise, forexample, n-type or p-type doped polycrystalline silicon. Silicide 70 cancomprise, for example, tungsten silicide or titanium silicide.Insulative material 72 can comprise, for example, silicon nitride.

Channel regions 80 and 82 are defined beneath floating gates 50 and 52,respectively; and source/drain regions 74, 76 and 78 are shown formedwithin substrate 12 and proximate channel regions 80 and 82.Source/drain regions 74, 76 and 78 can be formed by implantingconductivity-enhancing dopant into substrate 12 after patterning blocks50 and 52. In particular embodiments, regions 74, 76 and 78 can beformed at the processing step shown in FIG. 5, with masking blocks 40and 42 protecting conductive mass 15 during the implant of thesource/drain regions.

The processing of FIGS. 1-7 can, in one embodiment, be considered anovel application of a so-called Resolution Enhancement LithographyAssisted by Chemical Shrink (RELACS™) process that has been developed byMitsubishi Electric Corporation.

The present invention can advantageously form transistor gates which arecloser together than can be accomplished utilizing photolithographicprocessing alone. Specifically, if photoresist blocks 18 and 20 (FIG. 4)are considered to be as close to one another as is possible by aparticular photolithographic patterning process, then processing of thepresent invention has effectively defined new masking blocks (40 and 42)which are closer together than could be achieved by photolithographicprocessing alone. In other words, if gap 22 was initially formed to havea minimum feature size achievable by photolithographic processing, thenthe formation of coating 24 has effectively reduced the feature size ofgap 22 to below the minimum achievable feature size.

In compliance with the statute, the invention has been described inlanguage more or less specific as to structural and methodical features.It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not limited tothe specific features shown and described, since the means hereindisclosed comprise preferred forms of putting the invention into effect.The invention is, therefore, claimed in any of its forms ormodifications within the proper scope of the appended claimsappropriately interpreted in accordance with the doctrine ofequivalents.

1. A method of forming a transistor gate, comprising: forming aconductive material over a semiconductor substrate; forming a block overand physically against the conductive material; the block consisting ofa photoresist and a single material other than photoresist which isagainst the photoresist, the block having a lowermost substantiallyplanar surface extending along the conductive material and comprisingboth the photoresist and the single material other than photoresist; andtransferring a pattern from the block to the conductive material topattern a transistor gate construction comprising the conductivematerial.
 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising removing the blockfrom over the transistor gate construction.
 3. The method of claim 1further comprising defining a channel region within the semiconductorsubstrate beneath the transistor gate construction; and formingsource/drain regions within the semiconductor substrate and spaced fromone another by the channel region.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein thephotoresist releases an acid, and wherein the material other thanphotoresist is a coating which cross-links when exposed to the acid fromthe photoresist.
 5. (canceled)
 6. (canceled)
 7. A method of forming atransistor gate, comprising: providing a semiconductor substrate; saidsemiconductor substrate comprising a monocrystalline silicon wafer;forming one or more conductive materials over the semiconductorsubstrate; providing a photoresist block which is over a first portionof the one or more conductive materials and not over a second portion ofthe one or more conductive materials; forming a layer over thephotoresist block and over at least some of the second portion of theone or more conductive materials, the layer having a first segment thatis against the photoresist block and a second segment that is notagainst the photoresist block; treating the layer so that the firstsegment becomes different than the second segment; after the treating,selectively removing the second segment of the layer while leaving thefirst segment of the layer; the photoresist block and remaining firstsegment together defining a masking block that is laterally wider thanthe photoresist block; and transferring a pattern from the masking blockto the one or more conductive materials to pattern a transistor gateconstruction from the one or more conductive materials.
 8. The method ofclaim 7 further comprising removing the masking block from over thetransistor gate construction.
 9. The method of claim 7 furthercomprising defining a channel region within the semiconductor substratebeneath the transistor gate construction; and forming source/drainregions within the semiconductor substrate and spaced from one anotherby the channel region.
 10. The method of claim 7 wherein the treatmentincludes causing the photoresist to release an acid which formscross-links within the first segment of the layer.
 11. (canceled)
 12. Amethod of forming a programmable read-only memory construction,comprising: forming a conductive material over a semiconductorsubstrate; forming a block over the conductive material; the blockconsisting of a photoresist mass and a single material other thanphotoresist which is against the photoresist, the block having alowermost substantially planar surface extending along the conductivematerial and comprising both the photoresist and the single materialother than photoresist; transferring a pattern from the block to theconductive material to pattern a floating gate construction comprisingthe conductive material; forming a dielectric material over the floatinggate construction; and forming a control gate over the dielectricmaterial.
 13. The method of claim 12 further comprising defining achannel region within the semiconductor substrate beneath the floatinggate construction; and forming source/drain regions within thesemiconductor substrate and spaced from one another by the channelregion.
 14. (canceled)
 15. The method of claim 12 wherein thephotoresist releases an acid, and wherein the material other thanphotoresist is a coating which cross-links when exposed to the acid fromthe photoresist.
 16. (canceled)
 17. The method of claim 12 wherein thecontrol gate, dielectric material and floating gate are incorporatedinto a FLASH memory device.
 18. A method of forming at least twoprogrammable read-only memory constructions, comprising: forming atleast one conductive material over a semiconductor substrate; forming atleast two patterned photoresist blocks over the conductive material; apair of adjacent photoresist blocks being separated by a first gap;forming a layer on the pair of adjacent photoresist blocks and acrossthe first gap between the adjacent blocks, the layer having segmentsthat are against the photoresist blocks and at least one segment that isnot against the photoresist blocks, the at least one segment that is notagainst the photoresist blocks including a region of the layer thatextends across the first gap, the segments that are against thephotoresist blocks including regions of the layer that are on the pairof adjacent photoresist blocks; treating the layer so that the segmentsthat are against the photoresist blocks become different than the atleast one segment that is not against the photoresist blocks; after thetreating, selectively removing the region of the layer from across thefirst gap while leaving the layer on the pair of adjacent photoresistblocks; the pair of photoresist blocks and layer remaining thereontogether defining a pair of masking blocks that are separated by asecond gap; the second gap being narrower than the first gap;transferring a pattern from the masking blocks to the conductivematerial to pattern a pair of spaced floating gate constructions fromthe conductive material; forming a dielectric material over the spacedfloating gate constructions; and forming control gate material over thedielectric material.
 19. The method of claim 18 wherein the treatingincludes causing the photoresist to release an acid which formscross-links within the layer.
 20. (canceled)
 21. The method of claim 18wherein the control gate material, dielectric material and floatinggates are incorporated into a pair of FLASH memory devices.
 22. Themethod of claim 18 wherein the patterned photoresist blocks are formedby a photolithographic process; wherein the photolithographic process islimited to a minimum feature size that can be obtained by thephotolithographic process; and wherein a distance between the spacedfloating gate constructions is less than said minimum feature size. 23.The method of claim 22 wherein the first gap corresponds to about saidminimum feature size.